Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Viva Las Vegas

Months ago, Ross discovered that his boy band, the Kings of Leon, were starting out on a new tour and that the closest they would get to us would be Las Vegas.

The conversation basically went like this.
Ross - how strange would it be if I went to Las Vegas by myself to go to the concert?
Me - strange.

Me - what if all 5 of us went down for the weekend and you just went to the concert when we slept in the hotel?
Ross - that could work.

Me - Or, what if we asked my parents if they wanted to come down with us and they could just hand out with the kids and I went with you?
Ross - you'd go with me?
Me - yes, i'd go with you. That makes more sense than you going by yourself doesn't it?

Anyway, when we presented the idea to my parents, my mom surprised us with the idea of keeping the boys with her for the weekend and Ross and I going to Las Vegas by ourselves for a quick trip to the concert. It was a great idea, we were very appreciative, and we made plans for the trip.

This weekend, the time finally arrived and I guess it was a small blessing that all the early morning soccer games got rained out so we could head down early. We drove through pretty torrential rain until about Cedar City and then the weather cleared up and the sun came out. We got to Vegas in time to check-in, have a nap (because we are old farts) and then wander some outlet malls and have dinner before the concert.

We arrived around 9:00 pm thinking that the opening bands would be about finished. Nope - they were just getting started and we were warming up for the longest and latest night ever. The concert ended around 1:00 am Utah time (Midnight Vegas time) and we'd been standing up for a little over four hours with a few sitting breaks on the astro turf covered parking lot in between bands.

The show was good - for a show with three bands that I'm not a fan of. The light show was great for the Kings of Leon. Opening bands pretty much suck, no matter where you are or what show you are seeing and electronic cigarettes are pretty much as bad, or maybe worse, than the real thing.

But aside from the concert, I spent more time with my husband in about 30 hours than I have in the last several weeks. That was nice. I sort of remembered why I like him, and that I like to spend time with him. I have to admit that I think both of us were sort of forgetting that lately. We aren't good at finding time to spend with each other, and this time, without our kids, the first time without them ever (and Elliott is almost 8!), was time needed and well deserved. And, we couldn't have done it without my parentals, who I'm sure were pretty tired. But it was most excellent of them to take the boys for us.